PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang last Thursday tabled the private member’s bill to increase the level of punishment legislated by syariah courts.
Despite an almost hour-long interruption by opposition lawmakers to prevent Hadi from moving the motion, the Marang member of parliament got the chance to speak and explain the amendments.
In his opening remarks, Hadi assured that the amendments were applicable only to Muslims.
It was also clarified that criminal cases, such as robbery and rape, would still fall under the civil courts. Syariah courts will only deal with cases relating to marriage, property, children and abuses to the five pillars of Islam.
But, opposition members from DAP and PKR were having none of it. One could visibly see Lim Kit Siang (DAP), Gobind Singh Deo (DAP), and even Gooi Hsiao Leung (PKR) agitating in their seats, waiting to incite fear in the parliament hall that these simple amendments would lead to hudud.
I have written on why the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, or RUU 355, is nothing close to hudud. The amendments to increase the fines of those convicted in syariah courts will not see hands being chopped off, and there won’t be Gestapo-like police riding around to capture those they deem un-Islamic. Even if this wasamove to establish hudud, large parts of the constitution would have to be drastically redrafted.
After watching how DAP and PKR MPs launched accusations and criticised without content, I think it is crystal clear that Malaysia faces a deeper threat, one of political motive asymmetry.
It is a phenomenon where a nation becomes divided into sections who believe that their ideology is based on love, but their opponents’ ideology is based on hate. Around the world, we see how polarised things can become when a region or a nation falls into this dangerous thinking. We continue to see political motive asymmetry in American politics where both Republicans and Democrats see each other as a movement based on hate.
Unfortunately, for Malaysia, as a result of the opposition’s anything-related-to-Umno-is-evil strategy, we have fallen into political motive asymmetry. Dialogue is no longer valued for its convenience of learning the opinions of others, and listening to one another or giving someone the opportunity to explain his points of view are discarded.
We cannot progress as a society if we continue to have such arrogant polarisation.
What needs to happen is for us to collectively accept that there are differences. Rather than talking about why voters should vote for you because the other side is worse, we need to focus more on our own ideology, on our own offer to improve our surroundings.
Voters should be searching for leaders with the capability for consensus, for letting go of their individual egos to appreciate the concerns and sentiments of the public.
But, there are leaders, such as Kit Siang, who don’t even allow their members to voice out against party policies. This is precisely the type of thinking that will lead this country to further segregation. When you accuse the other side of being motivated by hate, then all dialogues get thrown out the window.
This past week has shown the good and the bad of Malaysian politics. The decision of Barisan Nasional not to carry RUU 355 demonstrated that the maturity to concede for the greater good wasatrend still prevalent in Malaysian politics. It has been this attitude that has kept Malaysia a nation that considers all opinions.
It did not matter that Umno was supporting RUU 355. It did not matter that Umno was the strongest party in the BN coalition.
When the BN leaders sat together, they all sat in equality.
The leaders of MIC, MCA and parties from Sabah and Sarawak all got their chance to express their concerns. And ultimately, Umno leaders, bound by tradition and dignity, had to listen to their partners. There was consensus and a clear sign that our country was being led by those who prioritised listening over ego and personal agenda.
In Parliament, we saw Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said carry forward the Sexual Offences against Children Bill that had been championed by Permata Negara. She was committed to working with all MPs to approve the bill. It is promising to see such a united effort to protect children.
But, this attitude of working together quickly disappeared the next day when Hadi presented his private member’s bill. DAP leaders collectively manoeuvred to disallow Hadi the right to speak. For them, it was conclusively accepted that Hadi was an Islamist extremist seeking to bring Malaysia towards a fundamentalist state.
Speaking without substance, Kit Siang suddenly accused the leaders of BN component parties of inaction for allowing the RUU 355 to be brought forward. It was clear at this point that the DAP and Pakatan Harapan de-facto chairman was starting to see enemies even in his cereal.
We need to delve into a political scenario where we aren’t so predictable.
When you surround yourself with people who think and believe the same things that you do, you disallow yourself the opportunity to grow. Those similar faces that continually agree with what you say become distractions in a society where we really need to be engaging with people who have different visions and methods for Malaysia’s future.
Only then will we start to recognise that the other side is not as bad or evil as we presumed. If you find that you and your political allies are talking about the same strategy onaday-to-day basis, then it’s time to venture out and tackle other ideas too; to see where your opinions fit into the greater context of things.
KHAIRUL AZWAN HARUN is Umno Youth vice-chief and an Umno Supreme Council member.